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Wasabi (Japanese horseradish)
Binomial name Wasabia japonica or Eutrema japonica
Family Brassicaceae
Genus Wasabia
Wasabi is an edible plant that originally comes from Japan.
Member of the Brassicaceae family, which includes cabbages, horseradish
and mustard.
Wasabi has an extremely strong flavor in its root.
Agricultural crop that has difficulty in cultivation because it only grows
in clean water of cool mountainous regions. |
| Kinds of Wasabi |
Japanese Wasabi (Wasabia japonica) and horseradish are the same in family,
different in genus.
The rhizome of horseradish is white colored, and that of Japanese authentic
Wasabi is green colored.
In fact, almost all Japanese restaurants and sushi bars in the world except
Japan serve imitation wasabi.
The imitation wasabi contains horseradish, mustard and some other ingredients.
It is green food colored.
Japanese authentic Wasabi can grow only in abundant clean flowing water
of cool mountainous areas.
It is a little difficult to find a suitable site to grow wasabi in other
countries, and, even if they find such a site, it would be also hard to
change the site to cropland for wasabi.
Therefore, almost all authentic wasabi is cultivated in Japan.
Semi-aquatic wasabi is called "Sawa-Wasabi", and, terrestrial
wasabi is called "Oka-Wasabi" in Japanese.
However, Sawa and Oka Wasabi are the same kind.
We only distinguish between Sawa and Oka for places they grow.
In fact, there is only one kind of Wasabi.
Though, it is believed that there are a huge breed variety of species because
Wasabi is very easy to adapt to each environment.
So, varietal differentiation is generated as each habitat of Wasabi is
different in water quality or climate or others.
"Mazuma", "Daruma", "Midori", Maruiwa"
and "Shimane No.3" are representative species of Japanese Wasabi.
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| Cultivation Methods |
* Sawa-Wasabi (Semi-aquatic Wasabi)
Semi-aquatic Wasabi is called "Sawa-Wasabi" in Japanese.
"Sawa" means mountain stream.
So, Sawa-Wasabi is wasabi that grows up in clean water of cool mountainous
regions.
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Main Cultivation Areas |
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Cultivation Method |
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Tatami-Stone
Method |
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Amagi area of Izu region |
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Cultivate wasabi in terraced flooded fields of stone-wall structure.
Abundant water is needed. |
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Mountain Stream
Method |
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Mountainous regions of the Chugoku district |
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Make flooded fields by paving sand in mountain streams.
Bed nurseries of wasabi with a little big stones. |
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Jisawa
Method |
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Tama of Tokyo area,
Upper stream of the Abe river |
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Mixture of the "Tatami-Stone" and "Mountain Stream"
methods.
Make terraced flooded fields in mountain streams. |
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Heichi
Method |
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Hotaka, Azumino regions of Nagano Prefecture |
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Cultivate wasabi using subsoil water.
Dig plain lands down 1-2 meters and make ridges. |
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Tatami-Stone
Method |
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Mountain Stream
Method |
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Jisawa
Method |
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Heichi
Method |
* Oka-Wasabi (Field grown Wasabi)
Terrestrial (field grown) Wasabi is called "Oka-Wasabi" in Japanese.
"Oka" means field.
Sow seeds and cultivate wasabi in fields.
Oka-wasabi is cultivated mainly for the purpose of harvesting its rhizome
part.
It is used as an ingredient of Japanese Wasabi-zuke pickles or wasabi powder.
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